Loosening Compacted Soil

Compacted soil is less than ideal for plant growth - but bad advice based on no-till zealotry is even worse. In this article I bring a little common-sense to the conversation.

I’ve seen the same type of question followed by the same type of answer over and over again on social media and it drives me crazy. Someone says that their soil is hard and compacted and wants to know how to loosen it up - then I read the answers from no-till gardening enthusiasts:

• Add layers of mulch.

• Do not till or cultivate.

• Let the soil heal itself.

• Let the soil develop structure

They are always confident and assertive, and often without qualification. I have to think that none of these people have ever had this problem and tried this technique; and/or they know nothing about ideal soil structure and/or how soils become compacted. So lets start this discussion that that last point, then discuss how soils become compacted, then address how to ameliorate the problem and prevent it from happening in the future.

Many proponents of no-till gardening have confused the problem of “over-tilling” with tilling in general, recommending NO TILLING EVER, no matter what. [source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rototiller_VA1.jpg]